Where did the names of the computer Hearts opponents come from?

Raymond Chen

A Windows 95 story in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of its release to manufacturing (RTM).

Danny Glasser explains where the names for the computer opponents in the game Hearts came from.

I didn’t myself know where the names came from, but Danny’s explanation of the source of the Windows 95 names brought back memories of the child of one of our co-workers, whose name I will not reveal but you can certainly narrow it down to one of three. He/she was exceedingly well-behaved and definitely helped to make those long hours slightly more tolerable. I remember once we heard the receptionist’s voice come over the public address system, which was itself quite a shock because nobody ever uses the public address system. The message was, “Will X please come to the receptionist’s desk. Your son/daughter is here.”

Space Cadet JimH picks up the story and explains how he went about writing the computer player logic. (And no, the computer players don’t cheat.)

Raymond Chen

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